While pleasure remains the most important aspect of sexual activity, experts are worried that the impact of climate change on sexual wellness, and thus fertility, can disturb demographic patterns among communities
Temperature in the bedroom is a rather positive metaphor in the everyday lives of consenting couples, with the rising temperature taken to mean rising excitement in sexual activity. Climate change, however, has added a twist to this imagery. Multiple studies over the years have found that climate change affects the sexual appetite of couples in an adverse way, with extreme temperature changes at both ends having a telling effect in the bedroom.
While pleasure remains the most important aspect of sexual activity, experts are worried that the impact of climate change on sexual wellness, and thus fertility, can disturb demographic patterns among communities, especially the ones that live in areas which are directly impacted by the impact of climate change.
Neha Gupta, a senior consultant of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Fortis hospital in Noida, says that extreme temperatures, natural disasters and environmental pollution associated with climate change can impact reproductive health. “Heatwaves can lead to heat stress, which may affect sperm quality in men and ovulation in women. Increased exposure to environmental toxins, such as air pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, can also interfere with fertility,” she says.
A worldwide empirical study conducted in the 1990s, Annual Rhythm of Human Reproduction, by T. Roennebergand J. Aschoff found that temperatures ranging from 5 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius increase conception rates, but temperature extremes reduce the likelihood of conception. The number of conceptions is favourably correlated with temperature in areas with cold winters and mild summers; this link is negative near the equator, where summers are harsher. Gupta has a similar observations when she says that “sperm production is often at its best between 34 degree Celsius and 35 degree Celsius”.
Heat and Health
Studies have established a causal link between climate change and various aspects of sexual and reproductive health. Research done in Bangladesh, along with Mozambique, conducted by IPAS, a global non-governmental organisation operating in the field of reproductive health, found such a correlation in India’s neighbourhood. Respondents told researchers that extreme weather events disturbed their normal sexual lives and women’s comfort in making informed choices about reproduction was altered in such scenarios. For example, women found it difficult to access contraception, “particularly during and right after extreme weather events like cyclones”, the study found. It adds that women neglected birth control measures when they are being evacuated during a weather disaster when their primary worry was survival.
Experts point out that there is a relationship between high temperatures and the number of premature births, stillbirths, low birth weight and other problems. A study Maybe Next Month? Temperature Shocks and Dynamic Adjustments in Birth Rates by Alan Barreca, Olivier Deschenes and Melanie Guldi evaluated the relationship between ambient temperature and birth rate in the US for almost a century. It found that hot days significantly led to a decrease in birth rates and high temperatures not only led to decreased sex but also impacted reproductive health, which lowers fertility.
Sanjay Kumawat, consultant psychiatrist and sexologist at the Mumbai branch of the Fortis hospital, agrees on the point of sperm production and quality getting adversely affected by high temperature. “It is a known fact that human spermatogenesis is a temperature sensitive process. Indeed, it is well known that a temperature below 2 to 7 degree Celsius of core body temperature is required for normal, healthy spermatogenesis,” he says.
Even ovulation in women is influenced by temperature changes that occur during the menstrual cycle. Kumawat says, “Temperature changes adversely affect a woman’s reproductive system in all phases. Thus, in women hormones like progesterone impact the temperature of the body, whether it is in the ovulation, pregnancy or anovulatory phase.”
A book Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts ..., published by Shanna Swan, highlights another disturbing trend brought about by climate change. It argues that pollution impacts the fertility system and the size of penises, as new babies are born with small penises. A similar study The Impact of High Ambient Temperature on Human Sperm Parameters: A Meta- Analysis, published in 2022, found that high temperature has an effect on the male reproductive system, which “negatively affects sperm quality, including decreased semen volume, sperm count and sperm concentration”.
The Indian Scenario
Even when Indian experts agree with findings discovered in global studies, they lament that lack of research in this area in the country stops them from drawing broad conclusions and suggesting corrective measures. However, in a rare study on the impact of climate change in women labourers’ decision on their reproductive choices, researchers Ritu Bharadwaj, N. Karthikeyan, Ira Deulgaonkar and Arundhati Patil have found that climate change has forced many women agricultural labourers to opt for hysterectomies to avoid break in work.
Bharadwaj, who is a team leader and principal researcher of the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development, says that in Maharashtra's Beed, climate-induced droughts and erratic rainfall has led to a loss of crops and other sources of livelihoods, forcing families to migrate for work. He stresses that women workers end up in sugarcane fields under exploitative contractors. “Faced with heavy fines for menstrual or pregnancy breaks, many women workers undergo hysterectomies to avoid income loss. Their choice is limited between feeding their family or undergoing this harrowing, and often life-altering, procedure,” she says.
She adds that the research of her group reveals that 55.73% of women in migrating households had resorted to hysterectomies, often at an alarmingly young age, which “underlines the urgent intersection of the climate crisis, economic strain and health risks”.
Like other aspects of climate change, its impact on sexual issues varies across urban-rural and class divide, which is relevant to the Indian economic scenario. Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India, a non-profit organisation promoting gender-sensitive population and health policymaking, says, “In India, the impact of climate change on sexual activity can vary between urban and rural areas, as well as between different socioeconomic classes. Rural areas, which are often more dependent on agriculture than their urban counterparts are more susceptible to the impacts of climate change, such as droughts and floods. Similarly, lower-income populations are more likely to live in areas with poor infrastructure and limited access to healthcare, making them more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on sexual and reproductive health. In contrast, there is evidence that individuals belonging to higher wealth quintiles may have better access to healthcare and resources to mitigate the effects of climate change, thus experiencing less impact on their sexual activity.”
Experts are concerned not only about the nature of sexual activity and reproductive health during climate crises but they worry about what happens post-trauma. Many global studies have confirmed that post-trauma, which includes any type of trauma including the ones induced by climate-related events, there is a likelihood of affected individuals indulging in hypersexual behaviour.
At the same time, a mere rise in temperature, without a traumatic natural disaster attached to it, can lead to increased sexual appetite. Kumawat says, “Summer vacation brings with it lots of leisure hours, with schools and colleges closing down. It is time for vacation, swimming and having fun with family and friends. This is the time when we start becoming more aware about our physiological and emotional needs.”
Beyond the psychology of desire, there is a physiological aspect to it as well. Kumawat says, “Heat leads to perspiration, which, in turn, leads to a peculiar body odour, which can stimulate or excite sexual feelings. Individual response and preference to heat varies, however, it is not uncommon that process of sperm production in males, and ovulation in females are positively affected as a result of heat.”
Given that climate crises disrupt normal sexual activity, hypersexual behaviour in affected regions could throw up another set of challenges that policymakers might want to study more closely.